Polls O' Plenty

Wow, what a news day. We're all talking about a horrible speech by George W. Bush announcing -- surprise! -- more of the same in Iraq, Secretary of State Rice being grilled by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the news that broke earlier today that U.S. forces have detained six Iranian officials in Iraq.

So let's also throw in the three major polls that were just released -- but don’t expect any major surprises with those either.

A USA Today/Gallup Poll, taken January 5-7 shows that the American people are by a wide margin rejecting Bush's plans to escalate the war in Iraq, with 61 percent saying they oppose the planned deployment of over 21,000 additional troops to Baghdad. In addition, a meager 26 percent of Americans say they approve of the situation spawned by Team Bush in Iraq.

Other snapshots from the USA Today/Gallup Poll:

• The president's overall job approval rating is at 37 percent.

• Sixty-one percent disapprove of the way Bush is handling the country's foreign affairs.

• Seventy-two percent of respondents disapprove of the job Bush is doing with global terrorism.

• Fifty-seven percent believe the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq.

• Seventy-one percent say things are going moderately badly or very badly in Iraq.

And here's one that's very revealing: A total of 54 percent of Americans believe we should either withdraw from Iraq immediately or by the end of the year.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll taken yesterday, reveals that 57 percent think the United States is losing the war, 61 percent oppose more troops going to Iraq, 58 percent say the war was not worth fighting and almost two-thirds disapprove of how the White House is handling the entire situation.



In an AP-Ipsos poll, released today and conducted January 8-10, 60 percent of respondents think it is unlikely that a stable, democratic Iraqi government will be established and a whopping 70 percent of Americans oppose Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq.

And on we go...